Bourgeois education has not liberated us.

The liberal narrative is that education is the most powerful tool with which to change the world. They speak of education as if it is this objective thing that floats outside of classes, outside of this system. They speak of education as one objective truth. But we know this is not the case. Education from whom? The ruling class has been educating us for centuries. But that education has not liberated us. The way in which we are educated is specifically used to reproduce this system, capitalism. Even the most bourgeois educated black man (Ben Carson, Barack Obama) cannot see past his own bourgeois interest. They do not represent the struggle or goals of black people as a whole. We have fought tooth and nail for our education. We fought for this system to educate us just enough to be workers. So when we say we want education, we don’t mean we want more Obamas or Carsons. We want people’s education. We want an education that can provide us historical examples and scientific formulas for revolution. But we can’t rely on this system to teach this to us. Even the most “Marxist” professor will not give this to you. They’ll always leave out key components of this formula. They will dangle liberation on a stick in front of the working class and their petty bourgeois allies while benefiting from and participating directly in reproducing the system they condemn. Educating the people is up to us. This means our method of education will look radically different from bourgeois education—from what we teach, to the way we teach. Our only tests are in the form of practice and application of the things we learn. This education can be as informal as a conversation on the bus or as formal as a study group. But no matter how it is done, it should always proceed with the mass line as its vehicle.

 Source: https://redguardsaustin.wordpress.com/2016/04/15/bourgeois-education-has-not-liberated-us/

C. Kistler

Also editor of Nouvelle Turquie.